Who Won The Amazing Race 20 — and Who Screwed Up?
[SPOILER ALERT: The following story reveals the winners of The Amazing Race 20. Read at your own risk.]
After clocking in more than 40,000 miles in 10 countries, married Army couple Dave and Rachel, Big Brother's Brendon and Rachel, border patrol agents Art and JJ, and dating divorcees Vanessa and Ralph face off in the final two legs for the $1 million on The Amazing Race 20.
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The final four travel from Cochin, India, to Hiroshima, Japan, where they must find their clue in Miyajima island. Everyone but Dave and Rachel make the last ferry of the night to the island. (Karma for paying the ferry to leave early last leg?) Luckily for them, the teams won't get the clue until sunrise, so they catch up. The clue sends them to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, where the next clue tells them to travel to a TV studio in Osaka.
Vanessa and Ralph go to the wrong studio, while Art and JJ arrive first to the correct one. It's a Roadblock: Teams must grab three hanging chickens while running on a conveyor belt. Art finishes before anyone else arrives. Brendon and Rachel finish next, but Vanessa has trouble because of her sprained ankle. Ralph tells her to stop and that they should take the penalty, but she sticks it out.
The Detour follows: The teams must play sushi bingo or take 10 photos of locals posing with giant sumo wrestler cutouts. Everyone chooses sushi except for Dave and Rachel. Dave and Rachel finish first and win the leg — their seventh win, tying them with Nick and Starr from Season 13, and Meghan and Cheyne from Season 15 for the most wins in a season. Art and JJ finish second, and Brendon and Rachel finish third, while Vanessa and Ralph get the boot.
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The final three take off the next day for Honolulu, where they must head to the Waterfront Twin Towers. Teams have to ascend a tower, scan for a flag identifying their next destination (a park) at the top and then rappel down. Dave and Rachel, and Brendon and Rachel arrive, while Art and JJ are completely lost and get directed to boogie board statues. They finally get to the towers as Brendon and Rachel are descending.
The clue at the park is a Roadblock: shave ice (Hawaii Five-0's Taylor Wily is the clue-giver). Dave finishes first and Brendon completes it just as JJ starts. The next clue tells teams to make their way on foot to helicopters, but Team Big Brother takes a cab, which they later realize. Dave and Rachel take the helicopter to another island, where the clue instructs them to rescue a swimmer with a jet ski. They finish first, followed by Art and JJ, and Brendon and Rachel.
Art and JJ find the next clue first, which is another Roadblock, where they must play a Hawaiian sledding and rock-tossing game; Art does it. And it is Dave and Rachel who mess up: They find a paddleboard task instead and get to the finish, where Phil tells them they didn't do the Roadblock. They run a half-mile to the Roadblock, and Rachel completes both parts before Art makes it down the hill. (Phil did name her his season MVP.) Brendon and Rachel arrive, and Rachel also makes it down before Art does. Art, however, finishes the rock-tossing part first.
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Meanwhile, Dave and Rachel paddleboard to the finish again and officially win the $1 million. They're also now the sole record-holders for the most wins in a season with eight. Art and JJ finish second, and Brendon and Rachel come in third, and everyone lets bygones be bygones.
"Operation Amazing Race has been a success," Dave says.
What did you think of the finale? Are Dave and Rachel deserving winners? Could you believe they recovered from their mistake? Can their record be broken? Are you excited for Season 21?
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